Muckworm

This is the most delicious worm for fish and experienced anglers prefer to fish with it. The dung worms are short and thick and can be easily hooked on. Dung worms can be distinguished by their color and habitat. The dung worm is red, sometimes mixed with yellow. If you crush it, then a yellowish liquid with a pronounced odor is released. These worms are found in rotting manure or under abandoned hay, as well as in old greenhouses. The main thing is that the ground is not too wet or too dry. This worm is a great peck of fish of the carp family.

Earthworm.

It is larger than the dung worm and is gray as dust. Sometimes it is tinged with pink. Great for bottom fishing. Fish bite on it not so willingly and fishermen do not like to use it very much. You can get it in the garden, where you can dig up worms for fishing. Very often digging a garden, you can stumble upon these worms. These worms hide in the ground at a depth that depends on the air temperature. The lower it is, the closer the worm is to the surface.

Subfoil.

This worm is bright red, sometimes it turns purple. It is very easy to get such a worm, it is enough to go to the forest or other planting and look under the fallen rotten foliage. They live just below it. These worms are enough large size, but they are rarely used for fishing. This worm stops moving as soon as it is hooked and loses its popularity for fish.

Crawling out.

It is a very large worm. It can be about a centimeter thick and up to 30 long. It is very difficult to get such a worm, because their holes lead very deeply and it is very difficult to dig it out. But you can take it by cunning. You need to go to the trampled paths in the garden or park and take a closer look. Seeing the piles of earth and sliding them, you can see the round holes. This is the habitat of the crawling. Now you need to wait for the night and come to the place. By shining a flashlight on the "houses" you can see that the worm lies nearby. You need to gently grab it with three fingers and pull it out, otherwise it can deftly crawl into the ground. This worm is great for catching large fish.

Green worm.

Found in a specific area. In bog bumps, watery meadows, oily soil, near reeds. Digging such a worm is troublesome, because it is easiest to get it in the spring, when it is not hot. In summer, he can bury himself in the ground up to three meters. Great for medium to medium fishing large fish... Does not freeze on the hook and does not break with small fish.

Water leaf.

Just like the common scrub, it lives under the foliage. Only in aquatic plants. Can be found on water lilies or lilies. Carp and rudd perfectly bite on it, because it is their natural food and favorite delicacy.

Zheleznyak.

Great bait for predatory fish. Lives in clay soil, for example, on the banks of rivers. Such a worm needs to be prepared, held in moss for several days so that it acquires a lighter color and gets rid of the unpleasant odor.

In general, most worms love moisture and coolness, so you need to look for them in places that meet these conditions. It is easier to dig up worms in summer and spring, more difficult in late autumn and winter. Therefore, if it was not possible to prepare worms for cold times, then you need to go to compost or manure heaps and ... The ground there is moist and warm, which makes it an excellent wintering ground for the worm.

Until recently, all domestic fishermen caught worms for fishing exclusively in this way. They went to their places of concentration and dug. The situation has changed, which was influenced by the fishing market, which included this bait in a form already packaged in jars. Fishermen, especially representatives of the last generations and people living in big cities, “forgot” about the traditional extraction of the worm and realized that it was easier to buy it. In this article we will tell you where to go, where to dig up worms for fishing, what species are, where they live, what to take with you, and also present some tips for storing baits.

Preparation for mining

The worm has appeared in fishing since antiquity. At that time, man did not yet know about the presence of such a number of species. It is believed that he initially experienced rain creeps. People have found that their elongated body fits perfectly on the hook.

Most are not only peaceful, but also predatory fish bites on this bait with a special hunt. Gradual acquaintance of a person with Vermes (emphasis on the first letter "E", this is the Latin name for a natural type - Worms) led not only to the expansion of knowledge of biology, but also to a variety of choice of bait.

During the mating season (in all species in different ways), you can stumble upon a tangle of individuals!

Later, people realized that these animals live in water, and in the ground, and in manure, and in sand, and even inside flooded wooden structures. They are found under fallen leaves after rain, near the rhizomes of trees and shrubs. First, it is worth deciding on the place of production. We will tell you where and what worms live in the next section, but for now we will analyze the standard ammunition of the miner.

You will need a tool. If the soil is very soft, then you can get by with a piece of a plank or a flat piece of iron, a stick that lies at hand, and even do it with your hands. It is more difficult when they sit deeply and you cannot easily dig out the soil. You will need a shovel. Its size depends on the degree of complexity of the work.

IMPORTANT! The most popular aids are small folding paddles. They are sold in tourist shops, in the departments for gardeners and gardeners. It is highly desirable that the bayonet of the shovel stays securely on the handle, does not bend or break.

Slightly larger in size - an army "sapper". Such a shovel, by the way, is very reliable, even more practical than modern factory goods. In difficult situations, we take an ordinary two-handed bayonet shovel.

Consider the size of the hook when digging. If, for example, you are going to catch small fish, then healthy individuals are useless to you. Experienced anglers take half of the large worms, just in case, and the other - smaller.

The collected worms should be placed in a container. This can be a mayonnaise bucket, a coffee can or a pressurized container for preserving food. Whatever it is, you definitely need a tight lid so that it doesn't crawl out, and holes for breathing (Vermes also need oxygen).

If you, roughly speaking, go fishing right now, then we put only worms in the jar. For longer storage, it is necessary to put their native soil there (in which they dug), it should take about half of the container.

The container for prey, the tool and hands must be clean - this is already for fish whims. Any strange smell will scare away the inhabitants of the reservoir.

Digging process

Fortunately, almost all people know how to dig, but there is a nuance in the mining itself. Here are some tips:

• try not to do any sudden movements during the process, this will reduce the number of worms cut with a shovel. We also take "Marriage" with us - it will be used as an additive in groundbait;
• do not forget to break the lumps - they can also sit in them. We try to do this with blunt parts of the shovel so as not to chop;
• it is better to close the container more often so that they do not crawl out while digging. Although worms crawl, they are quite dexterous creatures;
• if you saw the end of a worm in a part of the soil, then it is not necessary to pull it out (the body will break), but to dig it out;
• the biggest mistake newbies make is pouring water into a container. This is absolutely impossible to do, it is enough to slightly moisten the soil as it dries with non-chlorinated water (preferably from a reservoir). The worms will either die or become watery from the excess fluid. For example, leeches are another question;
• do not put worms in one container with maggots. The former are eaten with great speed.

IMPORTANT! It is necessary to feed. Breadcrumbs or small bread crumbs work well. During a long fishing trip, the worms will eat all the particles nutrients in the ground - you need additional food. Also, the fishermen pour them a little broth from the soup.

Species and habitats

First, let's break the myths about the representatives of the Vermes clan. The main myth: there are dung, earthen, red, gray, white, muddy, and there is also earthworms... Not right. All of the above (in fact, there are more of them) are the conditional names of species that are combined into one family - Lumbricidae. So called - earthworms. They are included in the Ringed Type, the higher order low-bristle (oligochaete) - these are the representatives used for fishing.

1 - tetrahedral, 2 - fetid, 3 - allopophore, 4 - reddish, and 5 - creeping.

Almost every species lives in a specific environment, and it can fit the preferences of individual fish. We will give the names conditional.

Dung

To find this representative, you should go to places that resemble a village or village. We need to find the dung heaps that the local population creates by cleaning out the cowsheds. Here you will find two types of worms living in such heaps:

• fetid rain;
• red dung;
• california red.

The California worm was specially bred taking into account desired result... It multiplies very quickly, so you can even stumble upon such clusters.

The second myth: fetid, which means it smells bad - the fish will not bite. Misjudgment because fish are afraid of unnatural, hostile odors. And such ringed representatives have been familiar to them for a long time. A strong smell, on the contrary, has a good effect on attracting the inhabitants of reservoirs, therefore, rural fishermen almost always catch precisely on a fetid worm.

Californian is the result of artificial crossing. These animals were specially bred in the USA for agriculture, so that they withstand all conditions and do the main work - they loosened, enriched the soil on plantations, fields, in greenhouses. Since then, it lives almost everywhere, this worm is also widespread in our country. You may have seen worms in the manure, in which the front is reddish, and the back is paler.

These three species live in the ground, but they wait for people to dump the manure, and only after that they fill the pile. The red dung is completely colored in the corresponding color. The same species are found in a common environment, but manure is their main delicacy.

Crawl

The most common worm in any area with trees, earth, grass and bushes. It was the crawl that gave rise to the spread of the earthworm myth. The name speaks for itself - it crawls out in the rain. They can also be found by digging shallow near the roots of bushes and trees, or by ripping off sod. By the way, crawls can reach 30, or even 40 centimeters!

Mud dweller

Very impressive specimens live on overgrown swamps, oxbows, ponds and lakes. They can reach 50 meters in length, and are comparable in width to the index finger. Such large worms are rare. Basically - a little less. These individuals live on overgrown reeds, cattails, reeds or arrow-leaved banks filled with a large amount of mud. There they feed on larvae. You will need to come up somehow in order not to fail. For example, build a bungalow and start digging. Their bodies are strong, fleshy, but the activity of this species is lower. They sit shallow, sometimes found on the surface. It is good to use such a worm on catfish as bait. It will fit a large hook. It can also be chopped into groundbait. Enough will be 5-6 pieces per kilogram of the mixture.

It is believed that ordinary worms live in the mud, which have evolutionarily increased in size due to excellent living conditions.

This individual should not be confused with the red dung species. You've probably seen a reddish worm digging through the top layers of humus. It gives off a reddish-brown hue, sometimes there is a purple tint on the back. Another distinctive feature is the mother-of-pearl surface. Strong body, high activity, so be careful - it can escape quickly.

The photo clearly shows the pearlescent-bluish tint in the light

Allopophora

Such worms are actively attacked by roach. In form, it does not differ from many representatives of the allopophore; its main distinguishing feature is added to the correct name: "Yellowish-green". Individuals are found everywhere, especially for rotting foliage, gardens, vegetable gardens and steep banks. You don't have to dig deep if we are talking about highly moistened soil. In less humid soils, it sits too deeply - it will take a long time to work.

Tetrahedral

Not the whole body, of course, but only the middle and back of it. There the tetrahedrality is quite noticeable, hence the Latin name - Eiseniella tetraedra. It is small in length - from 3 to 5 centimeters. It should be dug only on wet soils, and this worm is also often found on wet banks of water bodies. It can also be found under damp moss.

By the second name, most likely, you will recognize this representative - Dendraben. A very tenacious and active individual. It has something of a reddish appearance and a fetid (ring on segments) dung beetle. The body is fleshy. That is why he has earned special popularity among fishermen. This is also an artificial hybrid developed in Europe for agriculture. You can dig it out of humus; in the wild, Belgian creepers have already spread widely. The condition is moisture and saturation of the soil with nutrients.

Dendrabena is resistant even to many of the chemicals in the earth. This does not mean at all that such a bait is suitable for fishing

Other representatives

We have listed the most common worms found in our zones. There are, of course, many other species, for example, the sandy polychaete representative. It lives mainly in the corresponding soils along the shores of the seas or river deltas. It is practically not necessary to dig these worms - the fishermen search for them by the characteristic hillocks. Many of the annelids are difficult to catch either because they are too thin or because they are difficult to catch. The most popular among fishermen are precisely dung species. The leech is also a ringed worm used to catch catfish, for example. It is not necessary to dig them out of the mud: throw a piece of meat (preferably with blood) right at the shore, they will attack it in a few minutes.

It is worth storing them while maintaining food, humidity and temperature. They keep better in cool soil. By temperature - a refrigerator tuned to low power, a cellar or basement. In the heat, the worms die out - these are already unsuitable for fishing. You can also not go to dig constantly, but once visit the habitat, take a bucket, there is soil and about 40 individuals. They will live, multiply - there is no longer any need to buy or walk.

Where worms live, there you need to dig them. It would seem that everything is simple and how to dig up worms is not difficult. But there are some tricks and signs that will help you find such places.

Different types of worms live in different places and we will try to help you in this search.

This is the most appetizing worm for almost all types of fish and experienced fishermen choose it for catching. The dung worm is distinguished by a short and thick body, they fit very well on a hook. It also differs in color and habitat. As a rule, dung worms are bright red, often with an admixture of yellowish. When it is crushed, a yellow liquid with a specific odor appears. They live in rotting manure or under heaps of hay. They can often be found in abandoned greenhouses. The main condition is that the soil should not be very wet or very dry. Crucian carp and carp bite well on this worm.

It is more when compared with manure. It is just as different in color and is usually grayish, like dust. Often with a touch of pinkish. Best suited for bottom fishing. Fishermen are not as fond of as dung. Probably everyone knows how to dig worms of this species. You can just in the garden, or any other plot of land, and therefore the question of where to dig up worms for fishing is not as difficult as it seems to many. Often, when digging a garden, you can find worms of this type. They live in the ground at a depth that depends on the ambient temperature.

This species is distinguished by a catchy scarlet color, sometimes even purple. This species is not difficult to get, you just need to go to the forest. And it is better to look for them under rotting leaves. They usually live right below them. This type is distinguished by quite big sizes, however, they are rarely used for fishing. This worm stops moving when strung on a hook and is unattractive to fish.

The crawl is rather large in size. And often its thickness reaches one cm, and its length is up to thirty cm. It is not easy to get such a specimen, since their holes are at great depths. But savvy anglers have come up with one good way... It is enough just to find the well-trodden garden or park paths and take a good look. Noticing the earthen piles and moving them a little, you can see the round holes, they give out the places in which the crawlers live. It remains only to wait for the onset of night and come to this place. By illuminating the piles with a lantern, you can see that the worm is nearby. It is necessary to take it carefully, but quickly with three fingers, if he hesitates he has time to crawl into his burrow. This type of worm is best suited for feeding large fish.

You will not find this species either in the city or in the garden. Few know where to dig for worms of this species. They are found, as a rule, in swamps, constantly damp lawns, in oily ground, near reeds. Finding and digging up these worms is quite troublesome. It is easier to do this in the springtime, before the heat comes. In the summer season, it burrows into the ground to a depth of 3 meters. Fish bite well on him different sizes... On the hook, it behaves actively and is not torn by a small fish.

Water leaf

As the name suggests, it lives under the leaves. But this species is under the leaves of aquatic vegetation. Often found on water lily or lily leaves. Suitable for fishing carp breeds, primarily because it is their natural food and an adored delicacy.

Great bait for predatory fish. It lives in clayey soils, for example, often in the coastal river zone. Before you catch it, you need special training, which consists in keeping in moss so that it lightens a little and its specific repelling smell disappears.

Summing up, we can say that the bulk of worms prefer moist and cool places, as a result of which they need to be dug there. It is easier to find worms in summer and spring, more difficult in autumn and winter. As a result, if you did not have time to stock up on the worm in advance, then you can look for them in compost or manure heaps. As a rule, it is always humid and warm there, which makes it possible for the worm to safely survive the winter in them.

Exotic and easy ways to get a worm

Instead of a long and tedious digging with a shovel of soil in search of worms, you can simply find a place with wet soil, or you can lift the rotten planks and find several small sticks. Then you need to drive one stick into the ground, and the second to make sawing movements along the hammered into the ground. 5-10 minutes of such actions, and earthworms will climb up. You just need to just collect and put in a pre-prepared container.

Video "A unique way to get worms"

This video shows how worms are extracted with the help of two sticks and a file, crawling out from the squeak to the surface of the earth.

Likewise, worms are attracted by light blows to planks or other wooden objects lying on the ground.

Do you think that during the rain, the worms get out to the surface due to dampness? Absolutely not, scientist D. Gorris proved that they perceive the sounds of rain for the movement of their main enemy - a mole. When it rains, the droplets create vibrations that are similar to the sound emanating from a mole as it moves.

Some anglers put a plank in the ground, and put a metal sheet on the protruding end. Then it is pulled so that it vibrates. Frightened by such noise, the worms get out to the surface, where they are easy to collect.

Such simple ways allow you to get rid of this hard work like digging. Plus, it's more fun and not as unpleasant as messing around in the mud.

You can put the dug worms in a wooden box with holes for ventilation or in a small canvas bag. The soil in the storage container must be moist. It is impossible to allow the dug worms to get tangled in a ball, as this will lead to the death of most of them. It is better to take the earth for storage from the place where you dug them and there should be more of it.

This video shows a common traditional way of digging worms.

Since modern fishing has undergone many changes in terms of fishing methods and tackle. The market offers a huge range of artificial and live baits, but the classic bait is the earthworm. Since childhood, fishermen know what a crawl is, but this is only a superficial understanding. The European earthworm belongs to the annelid species of invertebrates and the suborder of small-bristle worms.

Body length varies from 2 cm to several meters (in some species). The growth of local representatives reaches about 15 cm. It got its name due to the peculiarity of crawling out of holes to the surface during rain. In fishing, it is used as bait for peaceful species, although predators also do not disdain them: perch, pike perch, catfish.

Earthworms can be found on all continents except Antarctica. A favorite place to live is oily soil with a high percentage of moisture. In sandy and clayey soils, this species is rare, it is more impressed by black soil.

In dry weather, it is problematic to find representatives of small bristles. They go deep underground or hide in the roots of vegetation, under the shade of trees, where the direct rays of the sun do not hit the ground. In the heat, you can make a plentiful spill of soil, thereby imitating rain - a crawl will surely appear on the surface, but in the late afternoon.

If the average air temperature does not exceed 20-25 ° C, the worms can be dug with a shovel. You should start your search in grassy vegetation, since its roots retain moisture well.

Everyone decides for himself where to dig up worms for fishing, however the best way capturing will be a night hunt with a flashlight. Crawling is caught after rain in the dark. This requires a little light and manual dexterity.

Crawlers are tenacious worms, but before collecting them, you should prepare a storage area. The bait is placed in a loose container with foliage and a little soil. Keep it in a cool place, for example, in the lower compartments of the refrigerator. Subject to these rules, the worm does not lose its viability for a month.

Methods for planting worms

Fishing crawls are taken in storage containers. There are several methods for dressing on a hook:

• In pieces. In this way, the bait gives off more flavor, which attracts the fish.
• For the middle. With this method of nozzle, the worm does not lose its mobility and visually attracts underwater inhabitants. This method is good for low biting activity.
• Rings. Outwardly, the nozzle looks like a tasty morsel of meat. Wherein live bait does not have the ability to slide off the hook, carefully masking it.

Each mounting method is used in certain conditions. With a passive bite, it is better to hook the worm so that it moves on the hook. The “meaty” aroma is enough for an active fish. Fishing crawls are an animal attachment that often outperforms plant counterparts.

A tandem of vegetable and animal bait is also used, or, as it is popularly called, “a sandwich”. Live bait complements other baits well.

For example, a worm with corn perfectly attracts carp, grass carp and large bream, and adding it to barley will effectively affect the biting of crucian carp and roach.

Growing earthworms in the country

In addition to fishing purposes, they are beneficial and summer cottage, are able to produce natural and high-quality fertilizer - vermicompost. It is better to start this event in the fall, since all species that can harm a young worm by this time fall into suspended animation.

For breeding will need a large container or dense film, which is lined in a meter-long hole and serves as a barrier against creeping. The breeding site is chosen not in an open area, but outside the garden - in the garden, under the branches of trees. The container should be covered with a 30-cm layer of fallen leaves and the "settlers" should be launched. The next layer is humus, branches and food organic waste: tops, vegetable peels, and so on. As the top, ordinary black soil is used, which should be tamped a little. In a day, the "farm" is moistened with settled water at room temperature.